Latest in CNN Films

Courtney Sexton has been promoted to SVP of CNN Films. In her new role, Sexton will work day-to-day with filmmakers to supervise the production of documentary films for theatrical exhibition and distribution across CNN's platforms. Among the 40-plus features and shorts Sexton’s team has acquired, co-produced or…

The director of the Emmy-nominated documentary Love, Gilda says a previously unknown film script written by the late Gilda Radner could soon make the rounds in Hollywood. "She left behind a screenplay which I have that nobody seems to have even known about," filmmaker Lisa D'Apolito tells Deadline exclusively. "I’m…

AGC Studios, CNN Films, and BBC Arts are co-financing documentary Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story about the eponymous English romance novelist. Laura Fairrie is directing the doc biopic which is being produced by John Battsek and Lizzie Gillett of Searching For Sugar Man and One Day In September outfit Passion…

For Tim Wardle, director of the documentary Three Identical Strangers, the last 18 months have been head-spinning. "To be honest," he tells Deadline, "from Sundance onwards, life has been a bit of a blur." That's what happens when you make one of the most acclaimed nonfiction films of recent years—a hit not only with…

EXCLUSIVE: North American distribution rights to Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice have been co-acquired by Greenwich Entertainment and 1091 (formerly The Orchard). The documentary, directed by Oscar winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and produced by James Keach and  Michele Farinola and CNN…

CNN Films announced today it’s partnering with Trilogy Films, Color Farm Media and AGC Studios to develop a documentary about Congressman John Robert Lewis and his civil rights efforts. Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington. Nicknamed “the Boy from Troy,” in recognition of his oratory skills…

When it comes to the great surge we’ve seen at the box office for documentaries, “investment by someone or some entity” like CNN Films makes all the difference according to RBG co-director and producer Julie Cohen. “If you’re making a documentary for $50K, there’s going to be limitations on what the quality is going…

Three Identical Strangers’ Sunday launch on CNN is now the most watched CNN Films premiere ever on the network. The film also ranked No. 1 in cable news Sunday night in both the key news demographic and total viewers. The film is about identical triplets adopted out to three families who reunited through coincidence…

SeaWorld and its former CEO, James Atchison, have agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle federal charges that they covered up the negative impact of the documentary film Blackfish on the company. The 2013 Magnolia-CNN Films release took viewers behind the scenes of SeaWorld’s popular killer-whale shows to expose…

Neon has picked up worldwide theatrical rights to Todd Douglas Miller's cinematic space event documentary, Apollo 11. According to producers, the film about the NASA space mission to the moon features “never-before-seen, large-format film footage.” The docu is executive produced by CNN Films, which will retain the…

CNN Films and Oscar-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams are teaming for American Jail, a new film that explores what fuels the country’s prison system. The docu is set to premiere at 9 PM July 1 on CNN. The logline: Writer-director-producer Williams' investigation presents a range of stakeholder positions and…

Magnolia Pictures has released its trailer for RBG, Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that world premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. That’s where Magnolia and Participant Media scored worldwide rights after its bow in the Doc Premieres category. CNN Fi…